The invention concerns a chain link and a process for the production of a chain link.
Movable items of equipment and machines are supplied with consumables of all kinds by way of lines which are guided in an energy guide chain. An energy guide chain includes a plurality of pivotably interconnected chain links. It is known for chain links of an energy guide chain to comprise a plastics material. A chain link has two chain side plates which are connected together by at least one transverse portion. The transverse portion can be formed integrally with the chain side plates. To form a pivotal connection between adjacent chain links each chain side plate has a pivotal connecting portion which engages into a corresponding receiving means in a chain side plate of an adjacent chain link. At least one chain side plate has at least one abutment to limit the angle of pivotal movement between adjacent chain links.
During operation of an energy guide chain the parts of the adjacent chain links, which are movable relative to each other, suffer from wear. Wear of the pivotal connecting portion and the receiving means in which the pivotal connecting portion is arranged can result in the function of the energy guide chain being adversely affected.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,507 B1 discloses a proposal in regard to the design configuration of an energy guide chain in which, in addition to the surfaces which are in mutual contact between the pivotal connecting portion and the receiving means for same, there is also a support effect between the comparatively large surfaces at the outside edge of a chain link and in the inside edge of an adjacent chain link so that the specific pressures in relation to surface area are reduced. That contributes to a reduction in the amount of wear between the pivotal connecting portion and the receiving means for same.
The individual chain links of an energy guide chain slide on a support arrangement, in operation of the assembly. It is also possible for an upper run of an energy guide chain to slide on the lower run thereof. In that situation considerable wear phenomena and also the production of an unpleasant amount of noise may occur. U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,313 discloses an energy guide chain which proposes that releasably secured sliding skids comprising a slidable and low-wear plastics material with good damping properties are arranged at the narrow sides of the chain side plates. The advantage of that configuration of an energy guide chain is that the chain links can be operated optionally with or without sliding skids, depending on the respective situation of use for which the energy guide chain is intended.
Taking that as its basic starting point, the present invention is based on the problem of so developing the chain link that it has functionally adapted regions. A further object of the invention is to provide a process for the production of a chain link, which is simple to carry into effect.